White to move. Is this a win, draw, or loss for White?
8/8/8/2K5/k1B4p/7p/1n1pP2R/8 w – – 0 1
Afanasjev 1972
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
- About Us
- Chess Improvement
- Chess Puzzles
- Chess Research
- College Chess
- General News
- Home
- Major Tournaments
- News
- Polgar Events
- Privacy Policy
- Scholastic Chess
- SPICE / Webster
- Susan’s Personal Blog
- Track your order
- USA Chess
- Videos
- Women’s Chess
- Contact Us
- Daily News
- My Account
- Terms & Conditions
- Privacy Policy
1.e3!! (1.e4?? leaves a g1 check)
A)1….Nxc4 2.Kxc4 d1/Q ?? 3.Ra2 mate!
B)1…Nd3!? 2.Bxd3 d1/Q 3.Bc2+-
C) 1…d1/Q 2.Rxb2 and Ra2 to follow and there’s no bishop check while the long diagonal remains open for Bd5! +-
e3
1. e3 wins.
1. … d1Q 2. Rxb2 Qa1 3. Ra2+; 2. … Qh5+ 3. Bd5
1. … Nd3+ 2. Bxd3 d1Q 3. Bc4
Err.. I meant 3. Bc2 instead of 3. Bc4 in my previous comment. Although 3. Bc4 wins as well 🙂
e3
e3 works i think.
I feel like I’m missing somethnng.. it seems like what was intended was for the Black K to be able to get all the way to the other side of the board, racing against the white e pawn. For example, it would go like this:
1. e3 d1Q 2. Rxb2 Qa1 3. Ra2+ Qxa2 4. Bxa2 h2 5. Bd5 Kb3 (see below) 6. Bh1 Kc2 7. e4 Kd2 8. e5 Ke2 9. e6 Kf2 10. e7 Kg1 11. Ba8 h1Q 12. Bxh1 Kxh1 13. e8Q h3 14. Kd4 h2 15. Ke3 which wins via Kf4 and Kg3. (or 12 e8Q wins more easily I think.)
But that doesn’t make sense, because the K can’t get to b3 on move 5. As it is the win looks too easy. Not sure what I’m missing.
1. e3!! d1Q 2. Rxb2 Qa1 3. Ra2+ Qxa2 4. Bxa2 h2 5. Bd5 1-0
I think 1.e3! wins for white…
1…d1=Q? RxN
with mate to follow next move…black needs 2 moves to check the white king due to the pawn on e3.
1…NxB 2.KxN d1=Q 3.Ra2#
Rxh3 – can lead to any result.
A) draw…
1.Rxh3 d1=Q 2.Bb3+ Qxb 3.RxQ KxR
4.e4 Nd3+ 5.Kd5 Kc2 6.Ke3
white king comes into the 4×4 square, so it will be a draw
B) win for white…
1.Rxh3 NxB 2.Rd3 h6? 3.KxN h7
4.RxP h8=Q 5.Ra7#
C) win for black…
1.Rxh3 NxB 2.Rd3 Na5!
black will queen one pawn…
so, e3 is best
1. e3 and wins
1.e3! and not 1.e4? followed by Rxb2/Ra2+.
One nuance is light bishop has to stop h1 queening. Nice puzzle!
I will post a detailed explanation/soln in my blog tomm http://kannan.jumbledthoughts.com. Thanks for the puzzle.
I Think, White should take the h3 pawn by Rook.
1. Rxh3
Now if 1…d1Q Bb3+ will get the queen and white will win with his superior material.
If 1…Nxc4
2.Rd3 will hold the d2 pawn and then it is just technique.
White wins!
Only one way is there!
1.e3! d1Q!
2.Rxb2 Qa1 (to avoid checkmate)
3.Ra2+ Qxa2
4.Bxa2
White wins!
This is the only way.
Even 1.e4 loses as then black queen gives Checks and moves white king away and removes the mate threat.
Earlier I missed 2.Qxb3! which wins the game for Black.
As the title suggests Tricky tactic indeed!
1. e3, d8Q
2. Rxb2, Qa1
3. Ra2+, Qxa2
4. Bxa2
(1-0 as bishop will take on h1, and black cannot prevent white queening)
Hi Susan Polgar,
Ref: “Tricky chess tactic” [ White to move ]
Sub : White wins the game,with initial “e3” move,thereafter in any combination.
1.e3 d1(Q)
2.R*Nb2 h2
3.Ra2+ mate
White wins the game : 1 – 0
By
Venky[ Chennai – India]
1. e3 leaves Black without any safe checks when the d-pawn queens
So, what if d1=N?
After 1 e3 Nd3+ 2 Bxd3 d=Q
3 Bc2+ is a mistake:
3..Ka3! $Bxd1 pat.
Better is 3 Bc4 winning
Olimat
1 e3 d8=Q
2 Rxb2 Qh5
White can escape out of the checkmate with this move
Wismay, on 2.Rd3 there’s Na5! I believe and in every case White will lose a tempo allowing Black to play Nb3 and now his pawn is untouchable !
It’s even winning for Black 3.e4 Nb3+ 4.Kd5! for instance 4…h3 5.e5 h2 6.e6 h1/Q 7.e7 -+